Railway-gage.



No. 784,330. PATBNTED MAR. '7, 1905. R. M. JENKINS.

RAILWAY GAGE.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 26, 1904.

WITNESSES: [NVE/WOR v afa/wm wam hw..

ATTORNEYS No. 784,330.V

Patented March '7, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT M. JENKINS, OF OARNEY, ALABAMA.

RAILWAY-GAGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,330, dated March 7, 1905.

Application filed October 26, 1904. Serial No. 230,119.

To (all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT M. JENKINS, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of larney, in the county of Baldwin and State of Alabama, have invented a new and Improved Railway-Gage, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to railway or track gages intended to be used in railway construction or maintenance of way.

The object of the invention is to provide a device of simple construction which'can be operated to bring the rails to the desired gage in laying' them.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the gage representing the same as applied in practice, the rails being represented in cross-section. Fig. 2 is substantially a plan of the device, certain parts being broken away and others shown as in section on theline 2 2 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the device, taken substantially upon the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. l

Referring more particularly to the parts, 1 1 represent rails. The gage comprises a draw-bar 2, which is provided at its outer extremity with a head 3, preferably formed integrally therewith, as shown. This draw-bar 2 is preferably of round material and 'at its inner extremity has attached thereto a knuckle 4, and to this knuckle there is pivotally attached at a lever 6. This lever 6 is preferably a bell-crank lever, as shown, having a long main arm 7 and a short arm 8, which latter arm is attached at its extremity to the knuckle 4, as indicated. Preferably at the point of union of the arms 7 and 8 a claw 9 is pivotally attached, as indicated at 10, and this claw is preferably formed with an upwardly-bent extension 11 to facilitate this attachment. The body of the claw normally rests substantially horizontally, as indicated, and at its extremity it is formed with a head 12, which depends therefrom like the head 3 of the draw-bar 2 already described.

1n addition to the parts described above the device preferably includes a gage-bar or spreader-bar 18, and this preferably com.

prises a tubular body 14, which loosely envelops the principal portion of the draw-bar 2 aforesaid. At the extremity of the body 14 that lies remote from the knuckle 4 a collar 15 is rigidly attached. This collar `is formed with an integral toe 16, which projects downwardly therefrom, as indicated. At the opposite extremity of the body 14 a yoke 17 is attached by means of a suitable hub 18, and this yoke comprises a pair of oppositely-disposed outwardly-inclined forks 19, which are preferably united near their extremities by a cross bar or brace 20, said forks terminating in forwardly-projecting ears 21, the purpose of which will appear more fully hereinafter.

The device constructed substantiall y as described is applied in practice as indicated in Fig. l. l/Vhen so applied, the heads of the rails 1 are received against the inner faces 22 of the heads 3 and 12. Assuming that the rails have not been drawn sutiiciently toward each other to produce the required gage, the handle or lever 6 would occupy some such position as that in which it is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. By forcing the lever down so that it extends itself substantially parallel with the draw-bar 2 the heads 3 and 12 will of course be made to approach each other. This movement of the lever will be continued until the inner sides of the railheads abut against the faces 23 and 24 of the toe 16 and the brace 20. At this point it should be stated that the distance between the faces 23 and 24 should be the exact gage of the road, which is ordinarily four feet eight and one-half inches. When the device is being applied to the rails, the lower edges of the ears 2l rest upon the upper face of the adjacent rail-head and operate in conjunction with the opposite extremity of the draw-bar 2 t0 support the device.

The construction described evidently constitutes a very simple gage which can be quickly manipulated so as to bringl the rails to their proper relative positions. The advantage of using' this device for forcing the unspiked rail into the proper gage is very evident. WV ith the crude methods now ordi- IOO narily in use for bringing rails to gage by means of the spikes themselves the spikes are often bent in the operation, and the upper faces of the ties are often broken in such manner as to enable water to percolate through into the interior of the tie. On this account the life of the tie is shortened and the expense of maintenance of way is correspondingly increased.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a device of the class described, in combination, a draw-bar adapted to be disposed transversely of the rails and adapted to engage the side of one of said rails, a lever pivotally attached to said draw-bar, and a claw pivotall y attached to said lever and adapted to engage the side of the opposite rail. K

2. In a device of the class described, in combination, a draw-bar having means for engaging the outer side of one of the rails, a claw having means for engaging the outer side of the opposite rail, a bell-crank lever pivotally connecting said claw and said draw-bar, and means for limiting the inward movement of the rails.

3. In a device of the class described, in combination, a draw-bar having means for engaging one of the rails, a claw having means for engaging the opposite rail, means for forcing said draw-bar and said claw inwardly, and a member adapted to slide on said draw-bar and limiting the inward movement of the rails.

4. In a device of the class described in combination, a draw-bar having means for engaging one of the rails, a claw having means vfor engaging the opposite rail, a lever con necting vsaid claw and said draw-bar and controlling the ing projecting' ears adapted to rest upon the upper side of the adjacent rail.

6. In a device of the class described, in com' bination, a draw-bar having a head adapted to engage the outer edge of a rail, a lever pivotally attached to said draw-bar, a claw attached pivotally to said lever and having a head adapted t'o engage the outer edge of the opposite rail, a gage-bar comprising a body adapted to slide on said draw-bar, said body carrying a toe adapted to engage the inner edge of a rail, a yoke attached to the extremity of said body remote from said toe and presenting oppositely-disposed forks, the said forks having' means for engaging the inner edge of a rail, and projections adapted to rest upon the upper faces thereof.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT M. JENKINS.

Witnesses:

W. G. HALL, J. N. STANDARD. 

